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Dingle Peggy
Further travels in Ireland on horseback
By Hilary Bradt Bradt Travel Guides
Copyright © 2013 Hilary Bradt
All right reserved. ISBN: 9781841624808
CHAPTER 1
“That’s the house!” I said, relieved at recognising it after a gap of two months. It was the second good omen of the day, the first being the ease with which I’d hitched a lift to Castle Gregory from Tralee.
A white pony was grazing in the adjacent field and my heart twanged. Mollie! But of course it wasn’t – indeed it wasn’t even a pony. Looking more closely I saw long ears. Then Noel emerged from the house and I was immediately enfolded into the warmth of the Hennessy family. Noel’s mum, Kathleen, put the kettle on and showed me into the spare bedroom. My luggage was in the shed, a bit cobwebby, but intact. There was Mollie’s precious saddle, and the saddle bags, and all the bits and pieces I needed to continue my trek. Memories flooded back and I resolutely chased them away. Now was the time to look forward.
All I lacked was a horse or pony. As soon as I dared, I raised the subject, hoping that someone had heard about Mollie’s death and offered me a replacement. No, but Pedar would fix me up with something for sure. He was the local horse dealer and incidentally the owner of the animal in the field. It was a jennet (donkey mother, pony father) and it was in disgrace. Pedar had sold it to a local man to pull a cart, but the animal was frightened of the white lines in the road (I can understand that; in 1984 they were a rarity) and had bolted. Before Pedar took it back, Noel was planning to use it for farm work but it chased sheep so had to be hobbled. It was a sturdy-looking animal so I asked if I could try riding it. I rather fancied travelling around Ireland on a jennet, but it was shaped like one of those toys you make out of a styrofoam ball and matchsticks. There was nowhere to put the saddle on the spherical body, and when I got on bareback I nearly fell off the other side.
Continues...
Excerpted from Dingle Peggy by Hilary Bradt Copyright © 2013 by Hilary Bradt. Excerpted by permission.
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